Caddoan Mounds - Facts and Mystery

Table courtesy Wikipedia
[Heironymous Rowe/Alexrk]

The prehistoric Caddo Indian culture existed in the open prairie 1,200 years ago. These people built ceremonial, temple, and burial mounds. Three large mounds still stand in East Texas.

The Caddo people grew corn, hunted and fished, and also collected wild plants for food. There is evidence of trade with other hunter-gatherers in the area. Also, it seems they shared many cultural traits and traditions of the Midwest and Southeast Mississippian cultures - the most prominent shared trait is mound building. This particular group of Caddo Indians, known as Hasinai, built their village and ceremonial center 26 miles west of Nacognoches. The Caddoan Mounds site is the southwestern-most cere-monial site of the mound building culture.

Mound builders inhabited the North American woodlands for more than 2,500 years. This particular 397-acre site holds many secrets. Archae-ologists do not know how many people lived here. Artifacts are scare so it is possible that the houses and other structures were occupied only for a short period of time.

The Site

Around A.D. 800, the Caddo selected this site as a permanent settlement and dominated the area for about 500 years. The village of forty houses surrounded the largest and southernmost mound (Mound A). Mound A is rectangular and appears to be the most significant of the three. The second mound (Mound B) is also rectangular and is located at the center of the State park. Mound B had a flat top and "broad earthen ramps on the north, east, and west sides" (Texas Native Skies, 2004). Mound C is the third and northernmost mound was used a ceremonial burial center.


What are the mounds? How were they built?

How were these mounds built? Well, to begin, the earthen mounds were special places where their leaders and priests lived. Some mounds were platforms, such as Mound B, that elevated grass-thatched temples for special rituals. Mounds were formed by workers that carried soil from quarry pits. Burial mounds contain soil and the sacred dead of the Caddo people. Ceremonial and temple mounds contain layers of burnt temples. After the death of a leader or priest, the temple and home of the individual was burned down, a layer of soil was added, and a new structure was built on top for the next leader or priest. The dead leader or priest was then buried in the burial mound and a period of rituals, mourning, and feasting began. At other sites, "archaeologists suspect servants and perhaps even family members were sacrificed and buried alongside the powerful leader to honor his (or sometimes her) death" (Mounds of Mystery).

Burial mound, Jennifer L. Price (Caddo Mounds site manager)

Over the years, mounds grew and grew as leaders died, priests died, new temples were built, etc etc. The largest now appear to be hills and can be mistaken by an untrained eye. What gives them away is their shape. Hills generally are not naturally rectangular or symmetrically circular.

Astronomy and Agricultural People

Mounds could have other functions. It is not unlikely that they served as observatories, "escape from flood water, and refuge from fierce storms" (Mark D. Lacy). They do have astronomical significance. For example, the Hopewell Serpent Mound in Ohio aligns with the sunrise and sunset of the equinoxes and solstices. "Platform mounds at Caddoan Mounds likely were aligned with stars or equinoxes, according to archaeologists, although they have not yet determined the exact alignments" (Texas Native Skies, 2004). For example, Mound B is aligned due north-south. This means it was most likely aligned with the north celestial star at the time of occupation. [Earth wobbles on its axis, therefore North stars change over time. Polaris has only been the North star for a few hundred years.] Also, houses at the site follow a pattern, much like the village pattern of the Pawnee -- this may mean houses were aligned with a certain star group or the mound building culture followed a default orientation pattern like Maya sites (most are aligned north with sun temples facing west so the sun would rise directly behind them).

Art

The Caddo made beautiful pottery. They used elaborate decorative patterns on pots. The Spanish left descriptions about Caddo wood carvings. Lucky for us since wood decays rapidly. In their descriptions, the Spanish write about wooden bowls, chests. chairs, beds, even bows and arrows. They even carved masks. Most of the relics that have survived are located in the Caddo Mounds' museum; there is a collection of about 200 prehistoric artifacts that date between A.D. 750 - 1400.

Caddoan pottery, Texas Beyond History

Where did the Caddo people go?

The Caddo Mounds settlement flourished until the 13th century. The site was abandoned. "Most archaeologists agree that the elite ruling class left the Caddo Mounds after loss of their regional influence, as outlying hamlets and trade groups became self-sufficient and grew less dependent on the cultural center in religious and political matters" (Texas Historical Commission). There is no evidence of war as the cause of abandonment. The Hasinai Caddo groups still lived in the area through the 1830s. By 1855, all 1,059 Caddo people were removed to the Washita River. Conflicts with the white colonizers arose once again and they were forced to flee to Indian territory in southern Oklahoma.

As you may well know from your US History classes, the Native Americans of East Texas were peaceful farmers. As we've chosen to call them, they are the NATIVE Americans that were attacked, stolen from, ripped from their land, and relocated into reservations. White settlers forced these people to abandon their homes, daily lifestyle, and rituals. Now, archaeologists face the "mystery" of their ancestors. Farming, road construction, and grave robbers have destroyed countless sites that could have explained who these ancient mound builders were. Today, Caddo Mounds State Historic Site is protected by archaeologists, Caddo people, and state officials who work together to preserve and study the remains of the sites still "standing."

Image taken by Texas Heritage Cycling Experience, 2005

The Caddo continue to live in western Oklahoma today, primarily near the Caddo Nation Headquarters outside Binger, Oklahoma.

References/Recommended Reading
"Caddo Mounds." Texas Native Skies. University of Texas, 2004. 
"Caddo Pottery Tradition, The." Texas Beyond History, 2003.
Hawkes, Logan and Carla Land. "Caddo Mounds Historical Park." WinterTexans Online.
Lacy, Mark D. "Caddoan Mounds." Terra Incognita. Houston Culture.
Moore, R. Edward. Caddo Cultures in Texas. Texarch Associates, 2001.
"Mounds of History." Texas Beyond History.
Texas Historical Commission. "Caddo Mounds." Texas Historical Commission, 2011.

About the Author

I'm Melanie, the founder of BermudaQuest and an archaeology undergraduate at the University of New Mexico. I love writing about ancient and modern cultures. My goal is to make information about our origins available to everyone [in simple English!]